COVID Kills AL Firefighter: 'We Have Lost a Great Man'

An Alabama volunteer firefighter died this month from COVID-19 after contracting the virus during department training, according to the U.S. Fire Administration.

Saragossa firefighter Donald Downs, 69, was attending a mandatory training session Nov. 17 when he was infected. He died Dec. 9, the USFA stated in an alert Wednesday.

"We have lost a great man," the department stated in a social media update Dec. 8.

Downs had been a member of the Saragossa Fire Department since 1993. Area firefighters gathered Dec. 10 to honor Downs before his funeral, according to the Daily Mountain Eagle.